Windows 8 sales flounder as critics pan clumsy interface

Gerry Harvey poses with a touch-screen desktop Windows 8 computer at the launch in October.

Windows 8 sales in Australia and overseas are below expectations, with one US expert describing its user interface as "a monster that terrorises poor office workers and strangles their productivity".

In Australia, IDC market analyst Amy Cheah, who has spoken to local retailers, vendors and channel partners as part of her work compiling sales numbers, said Windows 8 take-up was "not as strong as Microsoft would like it to be".

"Actual sales to date is not matching the hype, but the momentum is picking up in November," she said.

Backing up this qualitative information is data from internet monitoring company Net Applications, which found that Windows 8 was used by just over 1 per cent of visitors to the sites it monitors, compared to 46 per cent for Windows 7 and 39 per cent for Windows XP.

IDC has yet to release its latest quarterly numbers for Australia and New Zealand, but Cheah said it was already clear that Windows 8 was "a steep learning curve and the initial phase is going to be a bumpy one".

Ben McIntosh, general manager of computers at Harvey Norman, said interest in Windows 8 in his stores was "very encouraging" but stock was "coming through a lot slower than I would like to see". He said he always expected a slow start for Windows 8 and some customers were shying away from Windows 8 in favour of Windows 7.

"If people were expecting huge line-ups at stores and a saviour of the industry then they're going to be disappointed," McIntosh said.

The Guardiannoted that the take-up of Windows 8 appeared to be much slower than sales of Windows 7 in a similar period after its launch.

A raft of PC vendors have released Windows 8 Ultrabook laptops, tablets and convertible or hybrid computers, but Cheah said there were "too many, in my opinion, for consumers to choose from".

While the "live tile" interface of Windows has been a solid innovation for mobile devices, making it the default starting-screen for desktop and laptop users has been confusing for those who liked their old icons, windows and start menu just the way they were.

Whereas previously Microsoft has been accused of shoehorning desktop operating systems on to mobile devices, Windows 8 is more a case of shoehorning a mobile operating system on to desktop machines.

Users can still get to the old-style desktop, but Jakob Nielsen, a usability consultant and former Sun Microsystems engineer, said having two environments on a single device was a prescription for usability problems.

"Windows 8 on mobile devices and tablets is akin to Dr Jekyll: a tortured soul hoping for redemption," wrote Nielsen in an online article. "On a regular PC, Windows 8 is Mr Hyde: a monster that terrorises poor office workers and strangles their productivity."